Finals Photo Epic: Bielsko-Biala DH World Cup 2024 – Pinkbike

After much online debate about the fresh course in Poland, the brand-new World Cup venue proved itself worthy of its place on the circuit, providing incredible racing and a real challenge for riders to hit the features at race pace.

The Juniors started finals day with the worst of the conditions after morning rain soaked the track, making it slippery and hard to judge for the young racers. Heather Wilson proved her Fort William win wasn’t a one-off as she topped the podium once again, remaining undefeated in 2024. 2023 World Champion Erice Van Leuven came close to the victory as she took the race lead through sector four before Wilson pushed back to end the day 0.069 seconds ahead. Sacha Earnest was fastest through the first sector before losing time through the rest of the course to go 2.515 seconds back in third.

With rain still falling through the race, Asa Vermette came back from a difficult qualifying run to match Heather Wilson in maintaining his winning streak from round one. Vermette continued with the dominance seen in Fort William as he was unmatched in Poland, with only Mylann Falquet riding within four seconds of his race time. Dane Jewett put in a big effort on the slippery course to take the final junior podium position.

By the time the elite racing kicked off, the conditions were near perfect on track for the big show. Marine Cabirou returned to the top step of the podium with a flawless run placing her 1.188 seconds ahead of Camille Balance. Nina Hoffmann remains at the sharp end of racing this season as she went into third place, 1.6 seconds back. It was a frustrating day for Tahnee Seagrave and Vali Höll, as both missed out on top results after showing race-winning pace throughout the weekend.

The first World Cup in Poland ended with a bang as the elite men’s racing produced incredible results as the racing concluded with just 0.064 seconds between first and second. The winning time went to Ronan Dunne as he smashed out a wild run on the Polish course, crossing the line a tiny margin ahead of Loic Bruni and with a first World Cup win to his name. Following Bruni in second place was a stacked French top five, with Dunne the only rider not from France on the podium. After setting the fastest time in Semi-Finals, Dakotah Norton pushed slightly too hard during his run and missed out on the chance to challenge his teammate for the win.

Riders now have a few weeks off before the World Cup returns to Leogang for more flat-out racing action at the start of June.

---